1996 Football League First Division play-off final
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after extra time | |||||||
Date | 27 May 1996 | ||||||
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Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
Referee | David Allison (Lancaster) | ||||||
Attendance | 73,573 | ||||||
The 1996 Football League First Division play-off Final was an
The match was played in front of a crowd of 73,573 and was refereed by David Allison from Lancaster. Leicester dominated the early stages of the game but Palace took the lead on 14 minutes with a strike from Andy Roberts. In the 76th minute, Marc Edworthy brought down Muzzy Izzet in the Palace penalty area. Nigel Martyn managed to get a hand to the spot kick but could not stop it going in and levelling the score at 1–1. The game went into extra time and the final minute of the additional period of play, Leicester, anticipating a penalty shootout, substituted in 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) tall goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac. Seconds later, Steve Claridge struck the winning goal from a Julian Watts header, and eleven seconds after that, the referee blew the final whistle. Leicester won 2–1 and gained promotion to the Premier League.
Winning the final marked Leicester City's fifth promotion since they were relegated in the 1968–69 season. In their following season, they finished in ninth place in the Premier League and also won the League Cup. Crystal Palace ended their next campaign in sixth place in the First Division, and were promoted via the play-offs, winning the final 1–0 against Sheffield United with a last-minute goal.
Route to the final
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sunderland | 46 | 22 | 17 | 7 | 59 | 33 | +26 | 83 |
2 | Derby County | 46 | 21 | 16 | 9 | 71 | 51 | +20 | 79 |
3 | Crystal Palace | 46 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 67 | 55 | +12 | 75 |
4 | Stoke City | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 60 | 49 | +11 | 73 |
5 | Leicester City | 46 | 19 | 14 | 13 | 66 | 60 | +6 | 71 |
6 | Charlton Athletic | 46 | 17 | 20 | 9 | 57 | 45 | +12 | 71 |
Leicester City's opponents in their play-off semi-final were Stoke City, with the first match of the
Crystal Palace faced Charlton Athletic in the other semi-final; the first leg took place at
Match
Background
This was Crystal Palace's second appearance in the second-tier play-off final, having won the 1989 final (over two legs) against Blackburn Rovers.[7] Leicester were appearing in their fourth second-tier play-off final. They had lost in both 1992 and 1993, but won 2–1 against Derby County in the 1994 final to gain promotion to the Premiership.[7] Both clubs were aiming for an instant return to the Premiership having been relegated in the 1994–95 season when they finished in the bottom four.[8] In the meetings between the two clubs during the regular season, the away side won each time: Crystal Palace won 3–2 in October 1995 while Leicester secured a 1–0 victory the following April.[9] Leicester City's top scorers were Iwan Roberts with 20 goals (19 in the league and 1 in the League Cup) and Emile Heskey on 7 (all in the league).[10] Roberts had not played since 9 April, however, when he sustained a rib injury against West Bromwich Albion after a collision with Stacy Coldicott.[10][11] Although it was reported in the media that Roberts had recovered, he was not selected for the squad for the play-off final.[10][12] Mark Robins had scored 10 goals in all competitions for Leicester City, with 6 in the league and 4 in the 1995–96 Football League Cup.[13] Dougie Freedman had scored the most goals for Crystal Palace during the regular season with 20, all in the league, while Dyer was second-top scorer with a total of 14 goals (13 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup).[14]
Crystal Palace's
There was speculation in the media that if Leicester failed to be promoted, they would sell Heskey, with Liverpool being favourites to buy him.[19] Conversely, should Leicester be promoted, it was reported that O'Neill would make a bid for Keith O'Neill who he managed when at Norwich City.[20] Leicester City's defender Taylor had played for Reading, who had lost the previous season's First Division play-off final, and said he was keen to make amends: "It's an awful feeling to be beaten at Wembley ... I'm bursting for the opportunity to put it right".[21] Leicester City's Steve Walsh, who had featured for his club in their previous three play-off finals and scored three times, appeared resolute: "Winning is the only thing ... You cannot enjoy losing any final. After so much hard work, after all you've gone through, it's awful."[17]
Thomas Russell of The Guardian anticipated that
Summary
The final kicked off around 3 p.m. on 27 May 1996 in front of a crowd of 73,573 at Wembley Stadium. Leicester dominated the early stages of the game but Palace took the lead on 14 minutes: Andy Roberts struck the ball from the edge of the box past Kevin Poole in the Leicester goal.[28]
In the second half, Poole saved a shot from George Ndah and then almost immediately defended a volley from Freedman. In the 76th minute, Walsh passed to Izzet who was brought down in the Palace penalty area by Marc Edworthy. Martyn managed to get a hand to the spot kick but it was not enough to stop it going in and levelling the score at 1–1. Veart then cleared Walsh's header off the line with three minutes of regular time remaining, and the game went into extra time. In the final minute of the additional 30-minute period, Leicester made their final substitution of the game to bring on 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) tall goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac in anticipation of a penalty shootout.[28]
With less than a minute remaining, Steve Claridge struck the winning goal from a Julian Watts header, and eleven seconds later, the referee blew the final whistle. Leicester won 2–1 and gaining promotion to the Premier League.[28]
Details
Leicester City | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | Crystal Palace |
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Parker 76' (pen.) Claridge 120' |
Report | Roberts 14' |
Leicester City
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Crystal Palace
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Post-match
O'Neill was jubilant and thankful that a penalty shootout was avoided: "We just about deserved to win it, and that's an understatement. We played brilliantly, but I didn't fancy penalties. I think I would have committed suicide had we lost".[18] He went on to add that "this has to be one of the best moments of my life".[29] Journeyman Claridge, who had moved to Leicester City from Birmingham City in March,[30] described his winning strike as "the most important goal of my life" but admitted that it "went in off my shin".[18] He added that he was "dreading penalties" having converted just one spot kick from six attempts during his career.[31] In an interview 20 years later, Claridge refuted that he had scored off his shin, claiming "It didn't hit my shin, that was a stupid thing to say ... I hit it properly and sweet".[32]
Bassett remarked that "[t]his has happened to me three times" and said his team deserved to take the game to penalties.[18] Neil Robinson in The Guardian reported that O'Neill was given a £5 million budget to make additions to the Leicester City squad.[33]
Winning the final marked Leicester City's fifth promotion since they were relegated in the 1968–69 season.[18] In their following season, they finished in ninth place in the Premier League.[34] They also won the League Cup with the winning goal coming from Claridge in extra time in a replay, after the first final was drawn, and ensuring the club qualified for European football.[35] Crystal Palace ended their next campaign in sixth place in the First Division, and were promoted via the play-offs, winning the final 1–0 against Sheffield United with a last-minute goal.[36][37]
References
- ^ a b "Championship – 1995/1996 – Regular season". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ Douglas, Steve; Harris, Rob (12 February 2019). "Gordon Banks, soccer star who made 'save of the century,' dies at 81". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Play-Off Final History & Stats". Sporting Life. 25 May 2015. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
- ^ "Premier League – 1994/1995". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- ^ "Leicester City football club: record v Crystal Palace", 11v11, AFS Enterprises, archived from the original on 22 October 2020, retrieved 29 October 2020
- ^ a b c Smith & Taylor 2001, p. 329.
- .
- ^ Hannigan, Dave (26 May 1996). "Play-off preview". Sunday Tribune. p. 32. Retrieved 8 July 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Rollin & Rollin 1996, pp. 200–201, 577–581, 602–603.
- ^ Rollin & Rollin 1996, pp. 140–141, 577–581, 602–603.
- Newspapers.com.
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- ^ .
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ McNulty, Philip (27 May 1996). "Evans set to pound on £2m Heskey". Liverpool Echo. p. 32. Retrieved 29 October 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Hannigan, Dave (26 May 1996). "Bargain Rush". Sunday Tribune. p. 35. Retrieved 29 October 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b "O'Neill draws hope from life of Brian ...". Sunday Life. 26 May 1996. p. 89. Retrieved 29 October 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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- ^ Rowbottom, Mike (28 May 1996). "Claridge's climax shatters Palace". The Independent. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- ^ a b c d Kempson, Russell (28 May 1996). "Last-gasp Claridge puts Leicester back in top flight". The Times. p. 21. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021 – via Gale.
- .
- ^ "Claridge avoids penalty horror". Evening Herald. 28 May 1996. p. 64. Retrieved 5 November 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "My spot of fear, reveals Claridge". Liverpool Echo. 28 May 1996. p. 42. Retrieved 5 November 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Sharpe, James (27 May 2018). "Steve Claridge claims he never shinned his Leicester City play-off winner at Wembley". Leicester Mercury. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Premier League table at close of 1996–97 season". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ Moore, Glen (17 April 1997). "Claridge's five-star silver service". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ "League Division 1 table at close of 1996–97 season". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ Rowbottom, Mike (27 May 1997). "Football: Hopkin's late hit has Palace glad all over". The Independent. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
Bibliography
- Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (1996). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1996–97. London: Headline Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-7472-7781-1.
- Smith, Dave; Taylor, Paul (2001) [1989]. Of Fossils & Foxes: The Official History of Leicester City Football Club. Polar Publishing. ISBN 1-899538-21-6.